Home
by samanddianefan10
Summary: AU ending to 5x9. Spoilers! Tyreese finds his journey tales him further away from how he thought his life would take him. After a conversation with some long lost friends, he starts to see his situation in a new light.


As Tyreese, wary, burdened from the cost of living, tired, beaten, battered and bruised, settled into the backseat, he wasn't quite aware of his destination- only sensing the saddened awareness that it would be his final destination.

So this was it...the way his life would end. So much had happened during his final hours...so much left undone. For one thing, and possibly the most important thing- there was Sasha. He would never again get a chance to guide his baby sister, to impart his hard-earned wisdom upon her, to let her know that her conscience would always tell her what to do in any given situation. He wouldn't get to tell her how proud of her he'd been, how much he'd loved her. To thank her for being the best little sister a guy like him could have. That she'd been a credit to humanity, which was not to be unappreciated in those days.

But alas, he heard the clicking of the seat belt-belts?- in the front seat, and he sat back, eyes still closed, and he just waited. For what, he wasn't quite sure. But he wasn't really in much of a hurry...what was the point now that it was all said and done?

To be honest it did feel kind of nice to just sit back without watching over his shoulders, looking in every direction several dozen times just to go a couple of feet, to not worry about the inevitable threat of the walkers- and humans- that had taken over his life. Just to be able to sit and not think about what to do next, where to go, what to eat..well...just for the moment, he'd savor that feeling.

Finally after what seemed like a small eternity, the pleasant and innocent sound of a familiar voice woke him up. "Tyreese? We're here, Tyreese!"

Opening his eyes, Tyreese looked at the driver and instantly recognized her as being Beth Greene. Of course.

But what happened next honestly did take him by surprise...and that was after being bitten, 'seeing' the governor and Lizzie and Mika and Bob and Beth and Martin again...turning around from the passenger seat, the other person in the front beside Beth slowly turned and revealed himself to be...Hershel Greene.

Tyreese took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Nothing should surprise him at this point...he'd traveled alongside the elder Greene, and known him a bit at the prison when Rick wasn't...well, when Rick wasn't Rick. But after what happened at the prison...it had gone unsaid among the group, but the consensus had been that talking about Hershel was just far, far too painful for any of them to even begin to try to put into words the loss of that wise life.

"Welcome home, son," Hershel smiled as Tyreese took in the sight. It seemed kind of familiar, but even in the whatever state he was in, the younger man knew he didn't know where he was. It was a field, a farm, perhaps.

"Where..." he started, but Beth happily interrupted him.

"It's my daddy's farm," she smiled sweetly. "He always said that he didn't need heaven as long as he had his farm."

Tyreese had so many questions, of course, but while this felt odd, it didn't entirely feel wrong.

They all stepped out of the car, and Hershel turned to Tyreese. "I know this doesn't make sense to you now, son, but give it time. After all, what else do we all have?"

Tyreese didn't say anything, but just nodded in resignation of the situation at hand.

"Tyreese," Beth took his hand. "This farm...it meant the world to my daddy. Growing up it was all I knew. I guess I took it for granted...at the end, when things got bad..." she took a deep breath. "All I know is that my daddy was the greatest man I knew. I took him for granted. Growing up, Maggie ...I love my sister, but she was kind of a handful sometimes..." she smiled at her father, who just returned the smile and nodded.

"You could say that," he concurred.

"I guess I was sheltered..." Beth continued. "I never really appreciated the life my daddy worked so hard to provide for us...but now I get it. It's about home. If you have a home, you're never really alone."

Hershel stepped up and faced Tyreese. "In my day, son, I must tell you...I tried to be a good Christian man, tried to live by the Good Book...tried to do right by my fellow man. Granted, and my daughter here will tell you, that didn't always guarantee me to be the easiest man to live with..."

Even Tyreese had to smile.

"Tyreese, when I met Rick and the group...it wasn't under the best of circumstances. I'm sure Carol's told you about her girl, Sophia..."

Tyreese just nodded. "She never wanted to speak of her little girl...I heard some stories, of course...but Carol, well, I guess she just felt she needed to deal with that part of her life by herself."

"Yes, but it was here on my farm that we ultimately found little Sophia, may she rest in peace...but after that day, life here on my farm wasn't the same. Every day seemed to bring some new trial, some new tribulation...I had sworn I would die before leaving my farm...and in the end, when the walkers overcame it, Rick and everyone had to drag me off of my property kicking and screaming..."

Beth hugged him, and he stopped to gather his thoughts.

"At any rate..."Hershel cleared his throat. "At any rate, in the end...my precious farm was a place to live...my favorite place, mind you...but my home was where my family was. Not just my girls, though they couldn't know how they will always mean the world to me..."

"I think I do now, Daddy," Beth smiled through her tears.

"I think I get where you're coming from, sir," Tyreese nodded, choking back his own voice full of emotions he'd been trying so hard to bury.

"My point is this...as long as you have your friends, your family, your memories...no walker or man could ever take those from you...you have the people in your life whom you loved, and whom loved you...well, as we all learned, even the most desolate place on earth would be your home."

Beth hugged Tyreese, and then she and her daddy went to go check out some of the trees in the distance.

Tyreese looked around. This wasn't the way he'd wanted to go, the way he wanted his life to end. Even now it seemed as if he still had some unfinished business that he wanted more than anything to attend to.

But as he saw Hershel and Beth resting by a tree, Tyreese had to smile. Maybe Hershel was right. He had his memories...the love he'd had for his family and friends...the knowledge that he'd tried to live his life by his own rules, to not let the world take him down with it...

Tyreese slowly made his way to the steps of the front porch of the main house. He stopped, took a look around him, removed his hat, and then sat on the swing, waiting for the Greenes to join him.

It appears as if he'd finally found a place to hang his hat, a place that had eluded him for so long...as well as a peace that had, too.

Home.

It would definitely take some getting used to, but in his heart, he knew that indeed, and after a long, hard road, he'd finally found his home.

The sweet southern smell of flowers, grass, and fresh country air hit him, and he smiled...yes, maybe he could get used to this after all.

Home.

The end


End file.
